Be all ears means to listen very carefully and eagerly. The most common phrase is I'm all ears: “go on, I'm listening”, said when you really want to hear what someone is about to tell you. The idiom is conversational; in an essay, listen carefully is used instead.
When would you say be all ears?
Write a sentence — we'll check that the expression fits the situation and suggest what to fix.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
be all ears; I'm all ears (= go on, tell me)
- You said you had news about the new job? I'm all ears.
- The students were all ears when the teacher started talking about the exam.
- If you know a cheaper way to get to the airport, I'm all ears.
What changed
First versionTell me what happened at the interview. I'm all attention.
RevisionTell me what happened at the interview. I'm all ears.
I'm all attention may look logical, but it appears mostly in old novels, and in everyday speech it sounds strange. In the modern idiom, attention is shown by the ears: I'm all ears. Only attention was changed to ears.
I'm all ears can be ironic. If someone only criticises and offers no solution of their own, Go on then, I'm all ears sounds like a challenge: “Come on, suggest something better.” A calm, neutral option is I'm listening.
Your turn
Tell me about your holiday! I've been waiting all week to hear the stories, so I'm ___.
Show the answer
all ears — The speaker is waiting to hear the holiday stories, so they're ready to listen: all ears. All eyes is about looking; people say it when everyone is watching closely, but stories need to be heard.
Reply to a friend who has messaged to say they know how to save money on a trip. Show that you're ready to listen and say what exactly you want to save on.
I'm all ears, because I really need to save money on flights to Spain this summer.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.